Green Story

The brainchild of Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and Chairman of Stonyfield Farm – a company renowned for their incredible efforts in the world of sustainable business – Climate Counts was launched in 2007 as a nonprofit organization committed to bringing consumers and high profile companies together to address solutions to global climate change.

Motivated by the idea that halting climate change can only happen with action taken by an informed public, Climate Counts seeks to foster within citizens the world over that they have the power to make long-lasting change. To that end, Climate Counts has scored some of the world’s most recognizable companies – from restaurants to software companies and everything in between – in an effort to provide consumers a transparent look into what the world’s biggest employers are doing to curb their environmental footprints.

“With how political the climate change debate has become, we’ve found that the most productive way forward is to drive change in the private sector by highlighting companies that are truly ahead of the curve on sustainability,” says Climate Counts Director Mike Bellamente. “We believe it’s necessary to develop tools that help consumers vote with their dollar and reward the companies who are doing their part.”

By eschewing the doom-and-gloom narrative surrounding climate change, Bellamente has steered Climate Counts to advance a more optimistic outlook, forging partnerships where every side has a stake in pursuing real, long-lasting change. He’s also bringing the Climate Counts message to students through collaboration with the University of New Hampshire’s Sustainability Institute as a way of inspiring the next generation of sustainability leadership.

By bringing greenhouse gas emissions to the fore of public discourse, measuring how America’s biggest companies mitigate them, and keeping the public informed of who’s making and breaking their promises and responsibilities, Climate Counts continues to be an indispensable public watchdog, and a beacon of hope for our planet.